Saturday, November 04, 2006

About Me, My Blog

Since David full on outed me (although you could have put it together, and I do have a picture up), the time has come for an About the Author post.

About Me:I'm a medical librarian. I have a graduate degree in library and information science (MLIS) from the University of Pittsburgh, where I focused on medical librarianship. I currently work in a prominent academic medical center library, where I was promoted from the paraprofessional ranks and am now a Library Fellow (I worked there while obtaining my degree). I serve as Editorial Assistant for the Journal of the Medical Library Association and handle clinical questions for medical center. I have also worked with our digital library, budget, weeding, our management contract of another medical library, proposal-writing, reference and circulation, web updates, staff training, job candidate screening and interviews, and other projects.

Previously, I worked as Program Assistant and then Communications Coordinator for a non-profit organization focused on promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency. We also worked on mitigating the health effects of dirty power sources. I handled technical problems, website management, database management (10K+ records in a Filemaker Pro database I periodically customized), distribution of emails, faxes, and press releases to donors, members, and activists, politicians, and news outlets, and served as co-editor of the quarterly newsletter. On occassion, I did public outreach at events. See how that ties in to librarianship?

Why Women's Health?:I like technology, and wanted to play around with blogging. I had (and still have) an interest in women's health, and at the time was taking a course [#326] in Vanderbilt's graduate nursing program on women's health issues. (As a project for this course, two colleagues and I created an online tutorial for nursing students on how to search popular databases for women's health literature.) I knew I needed a focus, and focusing on a health topic is a good continuing education exercise for me. I think a lot of women are underinformed about their bodies, their health, and the policies affecting their health choices, and I hope to use this blog to provide a source of information about those topics.

The Comments Policy:Comments are expected to be civil. They are also expect not to be spam. If you post a glowing comment about how awesome my blog is, but link to your internet drug site or other venture, it will be deleted. All comments are subject to deletion at my discretion. I don't delete them just because I personally find the argument offensive, but may for any other reason.

Can I Send You My Film, Book, or Other Material to Review?Please do, but send me an email first so I can give you my address. The item should be women's health, general health, healthcare policy, or otherwise related to the content of this blog. I will not guarantee that the review will be positive, or even posted, and all reviews will mention that the item was provided for review (as opposed to found to be of interest by me independently).

Can I Link to You?:Yes. Without reservation. I think attempts to prevent links or deep-linking are intellectually dishonest and a hindrance to the benefits of online media.

What's With the Ads?:Librarianship doesn't pay a lot. The ads pay even less. I do block some advertisers if I have a personal issue with their content or the product or persons they represent. Thus far, I have blocked ads for an infant formula maker, censorware (website blocking technology), a diet pill site, and a conservative book club. I do not vouch for the usefulness or even accuracy of the material presented behind the ad links.

A Final Note:The opinions expressed here do not represent those of my employer. This blog is my work, independent of my actual paying job, and it is my responsibility alone.

You have a great blog and you seem to be very passionate about women and prengancy. I'm commenting in hope that you can get back to me about an advertising request. I would like to reach your audience about the harmful effects of the Ortho Evra Birth Control Patch. Can you please let me know if you would be interested in selling advertisement to us? Kind regards, Dean